GOP Lawmakers Jettison Colin Kaepernick From Black History Month Resolution

Wisconsin’s all-white GOP Assembly members on Tuesday removed former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick from a resolution honoring African-Americans during Black History Month.

The state Assembly passed the resolution without Kaepernick for “obvious reasons,” said Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke.

Black legislators created the list, which contained about two dozen people, and had included the former professional football player who launched the take-a-knee protests against police brutality and racial injustice during the national anthem at NFL games. Others on the list included baseball legend Reggie Jackson and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Rep. David Crowley (D-Milwaukee), who authored the resolution, slammed the strong-armed tactics as a “slap in the face” and a “textbook example of white privilege,” per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Crowley also said that black people should be allowed to choose the leaders they want to honor and that Kaepernick, who was born in Milwaukee and played for the San Franciso 49ers, was “making history,” The Associated Press reported.

“It’s outrageous that some Republicans feel they can censor African-American legislators in this way,” said Democratic Sen. Lena Taylor of Milwaukee. “So while we celebrate the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery, evidently the Republicans don’t think the First Amendment rights should be afforded to African-Americans.”

The resolution will be taken up by the state Senate, which is also controlled by Republicans ― none of whom are black ― on Wednesday. According to the Journal Sentinel, two Republican senators had previously backed the resolution when it included Kaepernick’s name.